Advances in digital media technology and creative business models have made enjoyment of digital media more convenient. Consumers not only have media hardware (e.g., a compact disk (CD) read-write device) to burn media files onto a CD-ROM, but may also transfer the digital media files to their portable devices (e.g., a MP3 player). In addition, consumers may purchase digital media content over the Internet via their desktop computers, cellular phones, or portal devices.
In purchasing online digital media content, some existing practices require that the consumers visit one or more online media (e.g., audio or video) web sites before the consumers can download the purchased media files. Others methods of online media sale include purchasing media content via a media player. For example, the media player may include a link within its graphical user interface (GUI) to guide the consumers to an online media content vendor or media service. The consumer may next proceed to order media content from the vendor.
In order to provide the consumers with a vast selection of media collections, the vendors typically provide a database storing a list of its offerings. The vendor would next present a listing of the collection of the media content and allow the consumers to perform queries to purchase a desired selection. The vendor would continuously update the database by adding (e.g., new album release) or removing (e.g., due to expired license of a particular media content) media files from the database. While such constant update ensures the consumers receive the latest media offerings, the customers frequently experience long delays in searching the vast database for desirable media file. For customers with relatively slow connection to the Internet, such long delays inevitably hinder the customers' user experience.